Friday

I posted this pic on Instagram last week of something wonderful I got to be a part of & shared a few thoughts about it. So many were interested, had questions & wanted to learn more that I thought it deserved it's own blog post to tell you all about it.

-My code name for 2015-

The youth, in our church, got together to discuss the new mutual theme for 2015 from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in an activity last week. The theme for the year is, Embark in the service of your God. The youth, along with the leaders, planned the whole night. It is something our ward has done over the past couple of years & the youth really seem to enjoy it. It's a great way to kick off the new year. The scripture, where the theme is taken from, Doctrine & Covenants 4:2 talks about serving him with all your heart, might, mind & strength. So for this activity everyone, including leaders, were divided up into 4 groups to rotate through stations that focused on one of those key words.

The groups made up of mixed youth, all age ranges & young women & young men, rotated through each station for a time of 10 minutes. Each session was lead by an adult leader from the Youth Presidencies & Bishopric who shared some thoughts, inspiration & ideas on their assigned subject that all tied back to the theme.

*I'll try to remember as much as I can from each station, but I was responsible of keeping time & moving everyone along so I was a little distracted too, wish I could remember all the wonderful scriptures, thoughts that were shared in each station.

Station 1- Heart

In this rotation everyone was given a box of conversation hearts with a printed out paper of D&C 4:2 attached to it. We read the theme & then each person took a minute to write down someones name that they could serve. We then went around the room & everyone gave some simple ways they could give them service. Some ideas were, talking to them, saying hi, calling them on the phone, sitting by them when they are alone, visit them in their home, pray for them. It was a great way to get the kids talking about how easy serving someone can really be & a little sugar never hurt either.

Station 2- Might

In this rotation we were greeted by our leader, Agent Stone, who shared something fabulous with everyone. He reminded us of who we are & what we have all "signed" up for as followers of Christ & members of the church. He asked everyone to sign up to be part of a "Special Secret Service" this year, by doing good & serving those around us. He passed along a sheet of paper, had everyone sign it & asked us all to make up a code name. By doing so we were pledging to serve our God & others throughout this coming year. We then filled out a name badge & wore it around for the rest of the night. Really fun to see the names everyone choose & get to ask them way they chose the name that they did. Very interesting! He shared a bunch of scriptures, that I wish I could remember, that were awesome & tied in perfectly to the point he was trying to get across.

This is where my picture on Instagram comes into play. I choose the name The Magnifier tying it into my OLW of the year, Magnify. I want to magnify my calling, see more clearly who I can serve, bring into focus service more in my life. Excited to give this experiment a try! I even saved my name badge & have it somewhere that I can see everyday. Agent Stone even printed out a list of all the code names & gave it to each leader so we can check in with our Jr. Agents from time to time to see how they are doing on their secret mission. More activities to follow on this I'm sure. The kids really got into this & loved wearing the name tags proudly & I hope they remember who they are & what they signed up for to do. I'm sure they will, GREAT kids!!

In the current issue of LDS Living there is an article with 52 awesome bit-sized service ideas to do throughout the year. Some different, fun & easy ways to give service. Check it out! Couldn't find a direct link to the article but it is on news stands now.

Station 3- Mind

In this station everyone was asked what they had learned so far in the rotations, reminded how important it is to remember what we've learned & be smart in the decisions, choices & actions that we take everyday. Everyone that had the chance to play around with a giant Jenga game, made out of 2x4's, for a minute. The point was to be smart, think through your move & work together to move the Jenga board up at least 10 levels. Some groups did well, others struggled but it was interesting to watch the process. A great little "break" from sitting & listening in the other stations to doing not to mention a little good competitive nature.

{Was a little noisy when they tumbled}

Station 4- Strength

In this rotation everyone got to watch a great object lesson unfold that shows the strength we are in numbers versus being alone in doing what's right, living our standards & serving. Everything is so much better & easier when we all stand together as one. The leader asked nine people to stand up & gave each of the a popsicle stick, he then gave one person a stick & asked them to brake it, which they easily did. He then asked the group of nine to put all their sticks together & then asked one of the youth to try & brake it, which she couldn't. Illustrating his point that we are stronger together than we are alone. The group than watched the youth theme video for the year & after all the youth & leaders pledged to Embark in the service of God this year by signing the mutual theme posters. After they are signed they are displayed all year long outside the Bishops office. You can print off the posters & watch the theme video HERE.

To end the activity everyone met back in the chapel to discuss what we had learned during the evening. The discussion was lead by a member of our Bishopric & 2 of the youth Presidents shared some thoughts on the theme & what it means to them. A perfect way to end a great night. Of coarse then there were refreshments, always a must!

Really a great experience from start to finish! A wonderful way to kick of the new year, introduce the theme to the youth & to serve as a good reminder of how the rest of the year should go as we plan out other activities for the youth each week. Loved being a part of it & ready to Embark!

Thursday

Hi Everyone- hope you are having a fabulous January so far. The month is half over already! I can't believe it. Hope you've accomplished lots, set many new goals & filled your days with happiness doing whatever you set out for to do that day.

I've been having so much fun being in my craft room lately & getting to play with my letter collection & creating word tiles for clients. It has been so inspiring for me! I love to put together each & every word. They have each come to mean something to me. Such a neat project for me to kick start a brand new year, can't imagine anything better than seeing uplifting, powerful & meaningful words. Amazing to see all the One Little Word people have chosen for the year to direct, motivate & inspire them in 2015. I say this all the time, when I'm in my craft room, sometimes work is just too much fun! Lucky that I get to do what I enjoy. Thanks to all of you who ordered a word, I hope you are enjoying it.

Here are just a few pictures that I had to stop what I was doing, just for a moment, & snap a photo. Just to pretty what I was looking at.

-I've never seen my craft island look so happy before with all these fantastic words-

All these little word tiles put together & drying before getting packaged up & sent to their owners. Just look at that amazing list of words. Are there any that are inspiring you? Have you picked a one word for the year? Maybe yours is in that lineup somewhere.

This pic is the moment before I started packaging them all up. So happy to see them all finished & happy. All the colors, letters & the words themselves just made me smile to look at.

-P.S. how cute is that note pad? When I saw it I just had to get it. It's been fun to leave my girls notes in the morning, tuck into lunches & put into packages. -

One final pic before I was off to the post office, with the 1st round of word tiles. I'll admit it was a little sad to see these all go but also very rewarding knowing that they were all going to good homes who were anxiously awaiting their arrival. I've enjoyed hearing from so many who ordered that they just love their tile & have it out to look at everyday.

I have people asking about ordering & yes, you still can order a little word tile for yourself. They are $15

{that includes shipping}

Orders need to be placed by January 20th.

To order visit @shophollyhocksandhoneybees Just leave a comment with your word & PayPal & an invoice will be sent to you & I'll get busy working on it.

Tuesday

Back with more because I just can't get enough of decorating for the winter months. I hope you take the time to do it & not just rush onto Valentines Day without even passing to think of snowflakes, snow & snowmen. There's just too much to enjoy & celebrate this time of year to not.

-The porch invites everyone to our home with a chilly & charming welcome. Love to collect snowflakes of all shapes & sizes-

Wanted to show you a few new things that I'm smitten with that I've incorporated into our home decor this year. If you follow me on Instagram you know that I have fallen hard for vintage thermos'. If I spot one at a antique store odds are it's going to come home with me. That's what happened last week on a day trip to one of my favorite antique spots. Walked out with 6 new thermos' All unique & ones I had never seen before. Happy, happy, joy, JoY!

I wasn't sure how I was going to display them but they just seemed perfect for above the stove in our kitchen. I lined them up, starting with the tallest in the center, & went out from there. Easy, simple & decor that makes an impact.

{subtle nod to winter & sipping hot cocoa in the chilly cold}

One of my favorite ways to decorate during the winter months, & easiest, is to hang snowflake ornaments from the chandelier, over our kitchen table, with fishing line. Makes for a great conversation piece every night as the kids blow air at them & create a blizzard. So fun to watch the dancing snowflakes every night.

Look for snowflakes of all shapes, sizes, colors & textures to make for a fantastic collection. I try to find at least one to add every year. Such a fun collection to have & show off. Here are some on display in my vintage chicken feeder on a soft bed of fake snow.

Another great thing to collect for winter decor, besides snowflake ornaments {which you can find after Christmas on sale & I always look to add a few to my collection every year}is snowmen. This year I decided to just line them all in a row on the shelf in our mudroom. Sometimes just grouping an entire collection together is all you need for a display.

Another favorite place in our home that always gets decorated is the stair ledge. This always gets stuffed full of this & that. This time I like the pops of red mixed in the shades of blues & blacks. Anything that even resembles winter is put on display. Such a fun thing to look at every time you walk by.

Adding some pinecones can give a nod to winter & outdoors for a simple rustic touch.

Hope these ideas have helped you see how fun it can be to embrace the whole idea of decorating in January & winterizing your home with some charming decor. I've shared a few other ideas to decorate for winter in the past, you can get more pics & inspiration here.

Monday

Don't you just love a fresh start & a brand new year. I always get invigorated every time we get to start a new calendar & start planning goals & things we want to accomplish during the year. Wishing you all a wonderful 2015.Wanted to start the blog off on the right foot & introduce a new segment I'm going to call, Mantle Mondays.

Each first Monday of the month I'm going to show you the mantles in our home & they are decorated. I change up the decor & mantles in our home each & every month. Do you? It's just something that I've always done. Just seems like a fitting way to welcome in a new month & celebrate all it has to offer. So I'd love to share my mantles with you every month. I'd love to see yours too by the way. You can email me pics or use the hashtag #newmonthnewmantle

The inspiration for my mantle for the month of January

{Yes, I decorate for January, I hope you do to}

came while I was strolling through Anthropologie one day. Oh, Anthro- I adore you! Don't know what your Anthro looked like this holiday season but mine had bundles & bundles of firewood & logs throughout the store. So of of coarse I snapped a few pics for inspiration & went home ready to tackle our home once the Christmas decor all came down.

I created a cozy wood winter wonderland a few spots in our home. One is on our upstairs mantle & in our entry way. I've really embraced the simplicity aspect of decorating lately & I'm really liking it. Our mantle for Christmas was the simpliest it's ever been & it was joyful to look at.

I just went to our local gas station, bought 3 bundles of firewood {less than $5.00 each} came home & started assembling. Really took no time at all. I added some glittered snowballs around the base of the wood, because you know a little bling never hurt anything.

The entryway table got the same kind of treatment. Fire wood stacked up this time, length size, then snowballs sprinkled throughout amoungst some bottle brush trees & some candles placed on top too.

-love the ruggedness of this display but yet has a lot of charm to it too!-

-Really enjoying all the color down here. January isn't for just white, grey you know. Throw in some plaid because it screams comfy, cozy & wintertime plus, the mustard, red & yellow just go so well together for a little unexpected color combo among the snowflakes & timber-

-The ruler snowflake I got at The Holiday Hive this year & just think it is the cutest thing ever. Love the splashes of turquoise that makes the whole display pop-

Love to decorate & change up the decor in our monthly especially on the mantles. I'll be back tomorrow to show some other ways I bring the outdoors in this time of year & celebrate the chilly, wonderful month of January.

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About Me

Thanks to my name meaning Honeybee in Greek & my love for flowers, Hollyhocks & Honeybees {my business} got it's name. I have a charming little studio in my house to create in {blessed} Married to one great guy & Mom to 3 amazing girls.